Spring Training Roundup : Carter Leaves the Indians in Salary Dispute

Cleveland Indian first baseman-outfielder Joe Carter, who led the major leagues with 121 RBIs in 1986, walked out of training camp in Tucson on Monday after the team offered him $250,000 for the upcoming season.

The 26-year-old had originally asked for $437,000 but said he would have settled for $380,000. Last year, Carter made $190,000 in salary and incentives.

Carter was ineligible for salary arbitration because he was 29 days short of the necessary three years of service in the major leagues.

Carter, who was called up from the minors late in the 1984 season, said he will not sit out the season and he will be back, but he doesn’t know when.

He had a .302 batting average with 29 homers and 29 stolen bases in 1986, and 108 runs scored.

“I love the city of Cleveland and want nothing more than to produce a winning team for the patient and wonderful fans.” Carter said in a written statement. “My departure from camp is a protest over the issue of fairness.”

Carter said the walkout was his decision, and he didn’t give an indication when he would return.

“I’m not going to take it onto the field,” he said. “You always have problems. But you can’t take them with you. On the field, you just think about baseball. I won’t think about this until the off-season.”

Right-hander Joaquin Andujar, whose late arrival plans angered Oakland Manager Tony La Russa, reported to the A’s training camp in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Dave Duncan, the A’s pitching coach, said Andujar is the tentative starter for the team’s exhibition opener Saturday against the Seattle Mariners.

“Based on what kind of condition he is in, Joaquin will start the first game,” Duncan said. “And I think he’ll be ready.”

Last season, the 11-year veteran was 12-7 with a 3.82 earned-run average. He pitched 155.1 innings, striking out 72, walking 52 and giving up 23 home runs.

The remaining 11 months of probation for New York Mets Tim Teufel and Ron Darling were set aside by a Houston judge, who ruled that charges stemming from an incident involving the players and police officers outside a bar last July have been dismissed.

Teufel and Darling were arrested July 18 on charges of resisting arrest with violence and felonious assault as the result of a fight with off-duty policemen sanctioned as security personnel at a Houston nightclub.

The players pleaded guilty to reduced charges Jan. 26 and were fined $200 and placed on a year’s probation each by District Judge Joe Kegans, whose ruling Monday came after Teufel and Darling had completed one month of unsupervised probation.

“It makes it sound as if it never happened,” Teufel said after the Mets’ workout in St. Petersburg, Fla. “I think this proves that it never should have happened.”

Met Manager Davey Johnson said Rick Aguilera will be the starting pitcher Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals in the Mets’ first exhibition game. Dwight Gooden will start Sunday, also against the Cardinals, and Sid Fernandez will start Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.